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OTTAWA REAL ESTATE 2018 – MARKET NEWS

First off, Happy Thanksgiving to everyone here in Canada! I hope it was a great weekend filled with family, friends, and tons of food

While temperatures are starting to drop outside, home prices in Ottawa certainly aren’t. The main driving force for this hot market continues to be the lack of decent inventory. Yes, multiple offers is still the norm for homes in the hot neighborhoods (provided that the asking prices are reasonable).

Ottawa Market Stats:

Looking at average home prices, residential freehold homes are up 7.9% this September over September of 2017. And average condo prices are up 7.6% over the same month last year. Increases of 7 to 8% are not the standard for Ottawa, and I expect price increases to taper to more modest levels in the near future.

For sales volume, the number of homes sold this September compared to Sept. of 2017 is fairly similar. Again, this is mostly attributed to a lack of inventory for buyers. More homes would most likely be selling if Buyers had more inventory to choose from. The shortage of affordable freeholds is forcing many buyers into the condo market, and kick-starting more new development projects from builders. New home sales are definitely hot right now, and I don’t expect that to slow down any time soon.

I will caution that this does not mean that all homes are selling immediately & for astronomical amounts. Pricing & demand varies dramatically from neighborhood to neighborhood, and from home to home. With condos, the hot market is between $175k & $275k. And for freeholds, the most volume sold is within $300k to $450k.

Interest Rates:

Most home-buyers & mortgage-holders are currently feeling the effects of higher rates. And there is a lot of speculation on where rates are going. While I’m no mortgage broker, I expect we’ll see them continue to rise slightly for a couple years. This will definitely affect home affordability for many. Talk to your trusted mortgage broker for more insight on that.

Winter is Coming (sorry to remind you :))

A friendly reminder to winterize your home & vehicles. Turn off all outdoor taps, turn off your AC, have your furnace serviced if you haven’t done so recently, throw those old snow tires on your car….. And probably time to start planning some winter vacations down south